the role of a producer on the main roster's Raw on USA Network and SmackDown on FOX. On the June 5, 2018, episode of Smackdown Live, Pearce and Dean Malenko appeared during the contract signing between A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. Pearce appeared in on-screen speaking roles on the January 17, 2020, episode of Smackdown backstage making a match between Bayley and Lacey Evans, and again on the May 29 episode of SmackDown setting up a battle royal where the winner would face Daniel Bryan in the Intercontinental Championship tournament. Pearce is one of the main coaches tasked with training celebrities for WWE appearances, notably Bad Bunny and Logan Paul. WWE official (2020–present) Pearce became the on-screen WWE authority figure for Raw and SmackDown in 2020, first appearing in an authority role on January 17. On the August 28, 2020, episode of SmackDown, Vince McMahon ordered Pearce to gather the signatures of Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt on the contract for their triple threat no holds barred Match at Payback. Pearce was successful getting Strowman and Wyatt to sign, but Reigns declined because there were changes that he wanted fixed. On the November 23, 2020, episode of Raw, Pearce was attacked by Braun Strowman, which resulted in Strowman being suspended for over two months. On the January 8, 2021, episode of SmackDown, Pearce began a storyline with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Reigns took issue with Pearce's recent booking decisions, including scheduling a gauntlet match for that night to determine Reigns' championship contender at the 2021 Royal Rumble. Against Pearce's decisions, Reigns' special counsel Paul Heyman convinced upper management to also book Pearce for the match, despite his on-screen role as a WWE official, subsequently being Pearce's first scheduled match since 2014 and his first match in WWE since 1997. Pearce was the final entrant in the gauntlet match, but as he was about to face Shinsuke Nakamura, Reigns and his cousin Jey Uso attacked Nakamura and Pearce, laying Pearce's body on top of Nakamura's for the pinfall and giving the win to Pearce. As a result, Pearce became Reigns' opponent at the Royal Rumble. On the January 15 episode of SmackDown, Pearce replaced himself with Kevin Owens, stating he was not "medically cleared" to compete. On the January 22 episode of SmackDown, Paul Heyman challenged Pearce to a match, but at the last minute replaced